I am continually inspired by the forms, colours, textures and patterns of marine life, awed by its beauty and extraordinary complexity. I am equally distressed by the effects of environmental degradation caused by human ignorance and greed.

Environmental degradation is increasingly a threat to the delicate ecosystems of marine life around the world. The most famous example of this is the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Up to a quarter of the world’s reefs have been lost.

Our natural environment becomes apparent through changes in scale, such as when viewed in a magnified form. The reproduction, multiplication and myriad beauties of colour and pattern become revealed. I have been greatly inspired by magnified images of natural objects. My work is a comment on society and our failure to work with nature.

By experimenting with a wide variety of materials, exploring patterns and textures, and using colour to symbolise bleaching, death and pollution, I try to address what is happening in our environment. I feel it is the duty of everyone with a social conscience to try and make a difference. I feel that as an artist I can convey the message of pollution in our environment in a different fashion. I hope I can present the message of pollution in our environment in a new and interesting way.

My work Repetition represents bleached coral. The coloured material within the work represents coral that is still alive. It is my intention to show a piece of coral that is dying and is beyond regeneration. The coral in our seas are heading toward extinction, but coral is not the only living organism heading this way. If humanity does not change and does not learn to live with nature, we shall drive ourselves to extinction.